TOKYO (AFP) – A growing number of top brands are pulling adverts from major Japanese broadcaster Fuji Television over sexual misconduct allegations against a host and former J-Pop star.
Masahiro Nakai, one of Japan’s biggest boy band stars and a celebrity television host, lost several of his shows on Japanese TV this month following media reports he had paid a large financial settlement to an alleged victim.
Toyota, McDonald’s and Seven and i Holdings, which owns the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, all told AFP on Monday they were withdrawing their commercials from the network.
The Nikkei business daily said more than 20 companies, from insurers to railway operators, had done the same.
Earlier this month, Fuji Television suspended a weekly show hosted by Nakai after media reports said he had paid a woman a lump sum of JPY90 million (USD575,000).
The reports said the woman had accused Nakai, 52, of sexual misconduct, with one tabloid claiming it had involved a closed-door setting and a “sexual act against her will”.
Tabloid reports also alleged that a Fuji Television executive had arranged a meal where Nakai, a member of the J-Pop sensation SMAP, met the woman in 2023.
The network denied those allegations but said last week it was probing the matter after a US activist investor said it was “outraged” by the company’s lack of transparency.
Fuji’s president Koichi Minato held a press conference on Friday but declined to discuss details of the allegation.
He instead cited a fresh internal investigation to be carried out by a committee that will be formed soon.
The scandal comes after now-defunct talent agency Johnny & Associates — of which SMAP was long the face — admitted in 2023 to sexual abuse allegations by its late founder.
Last week, US fund Dalton Investments’ affiliate Rising Sun Management, a shareholder in Fuji Television’s parent company, called on Fuji to “clarify the facts”.
“The lack of consistency and, importantly, transparency in both reporting the facts and the subsequent unforgivable shortcomings in your response merit serious condemnation that serves not only to undermine viewer trust, but also leads directly to erode shareholder value,” Rising Sun said.
“As one of your largest shareholders, controlling over seven percent of the company’s stock, we are outraged!”
Fuji Media shares fell more than 15 per cent after the allegations came to light but have since staged a recovery.
